Earthquake rattles northeastern states

A low intensity earthquake jolted the northeastern states on Sunday night. Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland felt the tremors at around 10:34 pm. The intensity of the earthquake was measured at 4.8 on the Richter scale while depth was 10 km. The epicenter of the quake was reported to be in west Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to property. The northeast region of India is considered as sixth major earthquake prone belt in the world.

India's northeast region lies between the Indian and the Eurasian plates and it reports more than a dozen quakes every year. The earthquake activity in this region is due to the Indian plate diving (thrusting) beneath the Eurasian plate. This process can trigger powerful earthquakes. The region had witnessed a magnitude 8.6 earthquake on 15th of August, 1950. It is still regarded as one of the major earthquakes in India that caused widespread destruction in both Assam and Tibet. Over 1,500 people were killed in Assam alone. It was considered to be among the ten largest earthquakes of 20th century.